Early Years and Education FdA

Working with children is exciting, fun, and incredibly rewarding. You’ll get the chance to impact their development by guiding them through new activities, and facilitating their interest in new concepts. Teaching young children requires a different set of skills to teaching other age groups such as Key Stages 3 and 4. The education of young children requires specialist knowledge in Early Years Education, and key skills in planning, practice and communication.

This online foundation degree is designed to help you develop your teaching skills in your own place of work. When you have the opportunity to work while you learn, you’ll develop a functioning understanding of the policies and practices of the subject – benefiting your personal development and your contribution within your place of work.

You'll learn about the education sector as well as child development, play, safeguarding and equality, with a strong focus on issues that are currently affecting Early Years and Education services. Under the guidance of a mentor, you'll undertake work placements and record your progress in a professional development portfolio. There are no exams; you will be assessed throughout the course with essays, a reflective diary, reports, presentations, and contribution to web discussions.

Benefits to you

• You'll develop a wide range of practical and analytical skills.
• You'll improve your ability to think critically about your work.
• Adapt your studies and assignments to reflect the setting in which you work
• A foundation degree in Early Years and Education will open a wide range of career options, in areas ranging from teaching to social work.

Benefits to your organisation

• Our Early Years and Education FdA course has professional recognition.
• You'll be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Early Years contexts within which the widening children's workforce operate.
• You'll be familiar with the policies and practices of Early Years Education.
• You'll be encouraged to critically analyse contemporary theories and empirical evidence in the area.

This course will open up a number of career options. You’ll be able to apply for roles in nursery work, school support and playwork. A FdA course in education studies is also an advantage if you want to do further study, such as topping up to a BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies in just one year.

The course has professional recognition. It takes into account the Children's Workforce Development Council and the Early Years Professional Framework

Core Modules

Due to the structure of this course, there will be instances where you will study two modules simultaneously during a trimester. You will be supported by your tutors to help manage your workload and assessment deadlines.

Please contact one of our advisers to discuss the pacing of this course and the options available to match your circumstances.

Learning and Development

This module develops your own learning skills as well as teaching you to develop the learning skills of children. Explore the difference between learning and development, and consider the influence of adults on children’s learning. The key topics will be human development; understanding learning; study skills; and the roles played by parents and key persons in the educational development of their children.

Researching Childhood

With a FdA in early childhood studies you’ll be introduced to essential research skills relating to children, and this module will teach you about the importance of linking theory to your practice. The primary aim of ‘Researching Childhood’ is for you to develop skills in child observation and apply general research methods to childhood studies. You'll be expected to work in small groups and share your experience and ideas with your class. The key topics will be research methods; ethics involved in working with children; types of observation; and studying children.

Play, Health and Well-being

It is becoming increasingly clear that there is a link between lifestyle factors such as activity levels, diet and health. Due to this, Early Years Education degrees have begun to place a greater importance on the need for children to have access to outdoor environments. It is vital to get children making healthy choices and enjoying a balanced diet and active lifestyle from as young an age as possible. Play is recognised as being crucial to children's physical, mental, social and emotional well-being, yet opportunities and encouragement for free play are becoming increasingly limited. You’ll consider children’s well-being and how it relates to their rights. You’ll learn how well-being can be supported through healthy eating, regular physical activity and a play-based environment. The key topics will be well-being; healthy eating and exercise; and outdoor play and forest schools.

Safeguarding Children

In this module you’ll discover the importance of the welfare and well-being of children. You’ll learn about the complexities attached to the notion of risk, child abuse, protection and safeguarding. This module will also offer you a comprehensive understanding of English legislation, policy and procedures for keeping children safe from abuse. You will gain an understanding of the range of provisions available to support the needs and requirements of the children in your care. The key topics will be child protection; support and intervention; policy and legislation; multi-disciplinary working; and welfare and well-being.

Work-based Learning 1 Professional Practice

You will identify a specific aspect of practice to develop. Using an 'Action Inquiry' model, you will then plan a change strategy, implement the change and evaluate its effectiveness. This model of personal professional development will enable you to understand your workplace by observing, developing and carrying out an action plan to effect change and improvement in practice. You will develop valuable workplace skills in IT, communication, presentation, reflection and analysis that will translate to a variety of educational and childcare settings.

Supporting Children's Learning

This module aims to educate you on the ways in which children play, and how adults can help support their experience. Discover a variety of pedagogic strategies and learn about the importance of creative practices in how children learn through play. Different Early Years’ curricula (Steiner Waldorf, Montessori method, Experiential Education, High Scope, Reggio Emilia and Te Whariki) will be compared and contrasted with England’s curriculum. The key topics will be Early Years’ curricula; learning through play; creative learning and pedagogy; and documenting care and learning.

Embracing Diversity

In this module, you'll discuss disability, differences and special educational needs in relation to debates on inclusion and exclusion, needs and rights, and the importance of seeing every child as an individual. You’ll explore different cultural practices to enable an empathetic understanding of how to help all children feel welcome in a setting. Theories for this module are drawn from different backgrounds such as psychology, sociology and education. The key topics will be history and language of inclusion; cultural differences and EAL; family structures and lifestyles; policy and legislation; and special educational needs.

Work-based Learning 2 – Professional Practice

By applying the knowledge that you gained from previous modules, you’ll be encouraged to explore your professional practice. You’ll also be expected to demonstrate a greater degree of autonomy in the management of your learning and exhibit a more detailed understanding of relevant theories.

Assessment

As you move through the course, we’ll check your progress regularly to make sure that you’re achieving milestones, and getting any extra support that you may need. You'll be assessed on one multiple choice exam and written work. This will include essays, a reflective diary, reports, presentations, web discussions and a professional development portfolio.

Mallika Kanyal

"I'm thrilled to lead Anglia Ruskin's professionally recognised Foundation Degree in Early Years and Education. This course will enable students to balance flexible study with their work, taking steps towards a fulfilling and varied career in Early Years."

Mallika is an experienced member of staff who has led and taught on a range of early childhood programmes, including undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The curriculum of these courses draws extensively from (national) Early Childhood Studies (ECS) degree benchmark statements. Currently leading Foundation Degree in Early Years, Play work and Education, Mallikais also a member of the ECS degrees network.

Her research is primarily participatory in nature. She has been working together with young children in nursery and primary schools, in order to develop an understanding their views of their learning environments. She has published a number of articles and chapters in books and academic journals; edited a book on children's rights; and also presented her work in various national and international conferences. Her current research is in higher education, where she is using various participatory approaches, such as working in partnership with students to develop pedagogical spaces. Mallika is also currently engaged in a collaborative 'creative writing through the arts' project with her colleagues and primary schools in Essex in order to integrate arts into children's writing.

Our Early Years and Education FdA is studied 100% online.

You’ll study through Canvas, our world-class online Learning Management System (LMS), which can be accessed from your phone, PC or tablet, both at home and on the move. Canvas provides instant access to study materials, forums, and support from tutors and classmates, as well as enabling easy submission of your assignments.

On successful completion of your studies, you’ll be invited to attend a graduation ceremony on campus. If attending the ceremony in person is not possible then we’ll arrange to have your certificate sent to you.

To help you land your dream job, our Employability Service will work with you throughout your time at ARU and after you graduate.

We offer:

• careers advice, including one-to-one online and telephone appointments with our experienced advisers
• help with your CV, job searches, applications and interview preparation
• an online portal packed with useful careers resources
• our Employability Programme, which helps you hone the skills employers say they want in graduates.

When you study an Early Years and Education FdA with ARU, you’ll develop the skills for a career that gives you the chance to craft young minds from an early age. With this course, you’ll have the chance to work with children in a range of roles which influence those formative younger years and play a key role in shaping their future. 

Our course will teach you a variety of core skills necessary for working with children in those crucial developmental stages. You will gain a fundamental understanding of how children learn, think, and behave, and explore the theories behind their wellbeing and development, as well as safeguarding and security policies designed to protect young people.

An online Early Years foundation degree with ARU will also teach you a variety of professional skills. Whether you have existing experience working with children or are taking this course as the first step in your future career, you will gain a greater understanding of the way in which child-centric workplaces function, and master several soft skills necessary to these environments through your distance learning course – these include time management, organisation and digital literacy.

If you want to build a career working with children, a foundation degree in Early Years childcare and education can be a fantastic stepping stone to a wide range of careers. 

One of the most obvious – and most popular – of these is teaching. With an Early Years and Education FdA, you may choose to top up your degree to a BA or continue to teacher training.

This course also opens door to a number of educational opportunities outside of teaching, including educational assistant and consultancy roles. Working in education is a rewarding path that gives you the opportunity to help shape young lives, whether through working directly with young children or developing policies that allow them the chance to learn and grow in secure, stimulating environments. By contributing to education in this way, you’ll play a crucial role in improving the lives and opportunities of young children at a crucial time in their lives.

With a degree in Early Years and Education, you can also open doors to roles in child protection and social services, applying the theories and policies that you learned on our expertly curated modules to ensure the health and safety of young children.

Our online foundation degree in Early Years and Education will give you a broad understanding of how children learn and develop, and explore how these functions are impacted by their parents, their teachers, and other key adults in their lives. 

You will discover the important role that play has, particularly activities in outdoor spaces, on the wellbeing of children. You’ll also examine the role of physical health factors on a child’s learning ability and attention span, and explore the impact of exercise and nutrition on child development. This course will also help you to determine your role and develop your potential as teacher or childcare professional to ensure that the children in your care are receiving the active lifestyles and nutrition that they need to aid in their overall learning and development. 

Our Early Years degree will also introduce you to the diverse needs you may encounter during your career in early years childcare or education, including disability and special educational needs, as well as cultural differences. A full understanding of diversity in children will give set you up for a wide variety of professional environments and best position you to be fully responsive to the requirements of children in your care. 

Our distance learning Early Years foundation degree is your best place to kick off your new career, or simply advance your understanding of child development, allowing you to continue working and developing in your current professional role while you complete your studies.

With a distance learning foundation degree, you’ll have full flexibility to study on a schedule that best suits you. This course is ideal for anyone who wants to build a thriving career working with children, and many of our students are parents, full-time workers, and mature learners returning to the world of study. 

At Anglia Ruskin Distance Learning, our courses are designed to accommodate your lifestyle, so that you can kickstart your career at a time that suits you. 

Because our Early Years degree takes place entirely online, you can build your own study timetable whilst working full time and managing any other commitments you may have. For those already working in childcare roles, you’ll also be able to apply your learning as you go, helping you practice the principles you discover on this course and make a difference from your very first day. 

Our foundation degree has been ranked No. 1 in the country by the Guardian League Table 2021, and our dedicated team are fully equipped to support and guide you through your studies. 

Start your path to success and take the first step to your dream career in childhood education with our foundation degree today. 

Find out more about distance learning on our blog: 

• 5 Types of Students That Thrive As Distance Learners
• Can Distance Learning Build Your Resilience?
• How Does Distance Learning Work?